Winter's Heart/Chapter 35
Summary : Rand and company leave Far Madding via the Caemlyn Gate. He feels he is now harder than ever. Nynaeve has the access keys. As they leave Far Madding, Rand can sense the True Source again and seizes saidin. Lews Therin sighs with relief. Harine will barely let him out of her sight, but Cadsuane makes it clear that he must uphold his bargain with her. They ride north and Rand retrieves Callandor from where he hid it. He announces that he intends to cleanse saidin. He and Nynaeve will link and use the Choedan Kal. Lews Therin shrieks that the Choedan Kal were never tested, and the other Aes Sedai try to argue with him, but Cadsuane just asks where he plans to do it. He says Shadar Logoth and opens a gateway to a sparse, hilly forest just north of it. Cadsuane sends Lan, Nethan, and Bassane to scout and gathers the other Aes Sedai. Alivia comes over and takes the bracelet and rings and the jewelry set from Nynaeve. Rand and Nynaeve sit down, and as Rand seizes saidin, he sees the image of a face that is almost familiar. Taking the access keys, Nynaeve iniitates the link with Rand, then passes control back to him. Rand forms a conduit of saidar, then begins funneling saidin through it, filtering the taint into Shadar Logoth. : Cadsuane notes that the amount of saidar being channeled will be felt all the way to Tar Valon, and probably all over the world as well. Merise and Elza link Jahar, who also has Callandor, and Sarene and Corele link with Damer. Nesune, Beldeine, and Daigian link with Eben, and Verin, Kumira, and Shalon link. Alivia and the three circles move off into the trees and form an encircling defense of the hilltop. Merise allows Elza to lead their circle at her request. Elza is committed to making sure the Dragon Reborn reaches the last battle. : Barmellin is on his way to The Nine Rings inn in Tremonsien to sell his plum brandy. As he passes the excavation, he sees the giant statue there shining like the sun. He turns his mare, Nisa, and heads back to his farm in terror, deciding to drink his brandy instead, all of it. : Timna is disturbed because the governors have left to pursue their Coramoor. Suddenly, she sees the giant statue glowing like the sun. She smiles, thinking that she might see the fulfillment of prophecy and the end of the Illusion. : Cyndane feels the flow of saidar and knows that Lews Therin found someone to use the female access key. This greatly angers her; if he had not spurned her, she would have faced the Great Lord, or even the Creator, with him. She can feel Moridin stroking her cour'souvra. Spinning a web for death, she opens a gateway and steps into a rolling forest. : Lightning strikes the shield that Cadsuane holds over the hilltop. Without the shrike angreal in her hair, she wouldn't be able to hold it. The golden swallow in her hand points out the direction of the source of the attack. Cadsuane points and Elza, Merise and Jahar send fountains of fire towards the aggressor. She is surprised that Elza is the one to meld the flows. The swallow points to Shadar Logoth. : Rand struggles to keep control and wonders how long he will have to hold on. : Demandred arrives in Shadar Logoth intent on stopping Rand. He figured out what Rand's intensions were when he located the access key here. He notes a shadow starting to cover the city and gouts of fire and explosions streak toward him. He quickly Travels out of the city, then runs for his life as more fire moves toward his second gateway. He guesses that, during the Breaking, the female Aes Sedai must have developed a ter'angreal to track saidin. He sees two women and an old man nearby and wonders who they are. They attack him and he realizes that the old man is an Asha'man. He runs again, so he can later return and attack and kill al'Thor. : As Cyndane runs from her third gateway, she prays to the Great Lord that she will reach Lews Therin first so she can see him die. : Osan'gar pants from the exertion of running. He does not like masquerading as Corlan Dashiva and never considered himself to be a soldier. Instead, his talents led to the creationof Trollocs, Myrddraal, and other creatures. He does not want to be here, but Moridin will find him and kill him if he flees, and if al'Thor succeeds, the Great Lord might kill both of them. He begins working his way closer to the source of all the power. : Verin sees a woman in the forest in a color changing gown. She thinks she must be one of the Forsaken. Verin tries to shield her, but the woman is too strong. She attacks the circle. : Eben, Daigian, Nesune, and Beldeine encounter a woman wandering in the woods. Eben says that she is holding saidin and attacks her physically since Daigian is controlling the circle. : Cyndane sees a woman standing in the woods, and prepares in case she is a wilder. Then she seizes saidar, Cyndane sends a ball of fire at her, but the web just comes apart when it reaches her. Cyndane thinks it must be some ter'angreal that she never heard of. The woman is stronger than Cyndane was before the Aelfinn and Eelfinn held her. She must have an angreal, too, but Cyndane fights back, determined to see Lews Therin die. : Moghedien is on a high hilltop not too close to the action, and she can feel Moridin stroking her cour'souvra. She can see an immense flattened dome of black where Shadar Logoth should be. She does not care who lives or dies, as long as it is not her that dies, although she would like to see Graendal or Cyndane die. She retreats to the back of the hilltop to watch the action. : Rand is sure that both he and Lews Therin are screaming, but he only hears a roar. : Cadsuane asks Min how Rand is doing.. Tomas and Moad have Min and Harine hidden in a depression. Min cannot tell for sure, but thinks that he is in agony. Cadsuane goes over to Rand who isn't moving. Nynaeve looks very weak, so Cadsuane Heals her. : Osan'gar reaches the top of a hill and sees Narishma holding Callandor. He also sees Rand. If he can kill al'Thor and take Callandor, then he surely will be named Nae'blis. He begins to weave balefire. : Elza regrets fighting the Chosen, but she is sure the Great Lord will understand. She sees Corlan Dashiva on a nearby hilltop. Drawing on Callandor, she vaporizes the top fifty feet of the hill, and Corlan Dashiva with it, not realizing he is one of the Chosen. : Moghedien feels no more violent channeling except for the access key. She realizes the battle must be over. The black dome is now two miles high, and it suddenly collapses in on itself and vanishes. The wind howls, filling the void and lifting her into the air. She thinks that if she survives this, she will never be afraid again. : Cadsuane examines the female access key, now melted and broken. The male access key is in her saddlebags with Callandor. There is a huge spherical hole in the forest where Shadar Logoth used to be. Lan returns and goes to Nynaeve. Min is with Rand. Both Rand and Nynaeve are unconscious. Cadsuane tells Lan that they need to recover on their own. The wounds in Rand's side are unchanged. Eben and Kumira are dead and Sarene is in shock. Damer Heals the wounded, including Beldeine and Alivia. Both he and Jahar say that saidin is clean. Cadsuane wonders if the taint is completely gone. Now that she has Rand, she does not intend to lose him. : On Tremalking, word spreads that the Time of Illusions is at an end. Characters *Rand al'Thor *Lews Therin Telamon *Nynaeve al'Meara *Lan Mandragoran *Cadsuane Melaidhrin *Alivia *Min *Harine din Togara Two Winds *Moad *Elza Penfell *Merise Haindehl *Jahar Narishma *Sarene Nemdahl *Corele Hovian *Damer Flinn *Nesune Bihara *Beldeine Nyram *Daigian Moseneillin *Eben Hopwil *Verin Mathwin *Tomas *Kumira *Shalon din Togara Morning Tide *Barmellin *Timna *Cyndane *Demandred *Osan'gar *Moghedien *Nethan *Bassane *Nisa *Graendal as woman in color changing gown *Aran'gar as woman channeling saidin Referenced *Padan Fain *Ishamael *Maglin Madwen The Nine Rings Innkeeper *Moridin Places *Outside Far Madding *Outside Shadar Logoth / Aridhol *Cairhien *Tremalking *Caemlyn *Aiel Waste *Emond's Field *Tar Valon *Tremonsien *Cairhien (city) *Dumai's Wells Items *''Callandor'' *Access Keys *Choedan Kal Events *[[Cleansing of saidin|Cleansing of saidin]] One Power *''Saidin'' *''Saidar'' *Linking *''Callandor'' *Choedan Kal *Traveling